Minutes of the June Board meeting were accepted with the addition of Eddie to the list of those attending.

Policy review: Pete Jacobsen, Corinne, Eddie, and Adele met this summer to set a framework for the policy and procedure committee. Eddie has been reviewing the Chapter's historic documents, in an attempt to find what policies were previously established. He presented a proposal for establishing new policy, based on work earlier done by Pete. (text attached to printed copy of minutes) Members modified the wording slightly, adding "is approved by majority vote," "significant" objections, and "needed modifications." It was agreed that we need a place or method to store decisions. Vigorous discussion followed: Claudia suggested the general membership should be included in this process to prevent the appearance or reality of non-democratic developments. Tom said in the absence of previous problems it makes sense for the Board to handle these questions. David said the communications committee has ideas about circulating and storing policy decisions. Actions--Eddie will rewrite and circulate his proposal. Discussion to continue. Research to continue.

Summer workshop report: 22 interns and 4 vets along with Corinne and Weston Miller attended a late summer vegetable growing workshop at Eddie's large urban garden. Eddie saved statements the interns wrote about becoming Master Gardener educators, their favorite "gives" and "gets." John read these to the group with appropriate emotion.

Nominations: Eddie said he will not continue as vice-president but would like to remain Chapter historian. No one has offered to run for the vacant offices yet but Tom has been suggesting candidates to Corinne. He said it is helpful for continuity if some current Board members move into other positions on the Board. He also suggested looking for talent within committees. Action-- Eddie and others of us to continue search for possible candidates.

Treasurer: Christine said we should plan on getting the budget done soon. She will write a draft based on recent past budgets and past spending. She will circulate this draft and suggests we begin discussing it in October. Tom said we should try to get the proposed budget to a wider audience (beyond the Board.) Action--Christine to present proposed budget at October Board meeting.

OMGA: Long-time OMGA treasurer, Katherine Johnson, was named State Master Gardener of the Year. Audits done by the state organization were discussed in view of the Multnomah County Board's interest in doing a financial review of some sort. Lorna said Katherine Johnson has done informal OMGA audits with Wes Bevans, a past president of the Columbia County Master Gardeners.

Awards: John said two award winners have not received their awards yet. He will present these at the next Chapter meeting. Lorna brought certificates from OMGA for our Chapter awardees. Also, 20- and 30-year members will get special OMGA recognition. Action--Present the remaining awards at October Chapter meeting.

Metro: scholarships and training: Jack circulated and explained changes Weston proposed in terminology and amount of available financial aid for the next training course. The process will be more centralized, though they will give us the names of people whose applications were not successful at the Metro level. Last year 22 scholarships and fellowships were given in our 3-county region, most to Multnomah applicants. Ten of these came from the chapters, the rest from other sources. Jack and Rich distributed copies of the written budget requests. Rich recommends the expenses for parking be handled as previously done, afterwards. Action--Chapter contribution to Metro to be included in next budget.

Metro: new Web site: Stevan explained some of the scope of the statewide website under development, "SolvePestProblems.org." It will begin with 660 common problems, be simpler to use than the current PNW's, and include a Spanish version. He said many other organizations and corporations are involved and have pledged money. He anticipates there will be ongoing costs. Action--Chapter contribution to website to be included in next budget.

Community cultivator: This position is still vacant. The work continues with groups of members volunteering to chair events. Harvest Fest went well despite a smoky afternoon due to forest fires. Plant Swap will be October 7. Action--Continue to look for a person who is willing to chair this committee, as the Chapter seems to enjoy these activities.

Demo garden: Nancy reported on plans for the garden and shared an update Pete wrote on the Annex. Two design committees are meeting later this week. There is a class this Saturday to build raised beds to winter-over plants we may acquire this fall.

Training: Some planned changes in the curriculum include more hands-on work, plant ID practice, additional time for berries, and role-playing. The vertebrate pest unit will be on-line. Vets are being encouraged to attend classes for their own educational benefit and to begin meeting the interns. State coordinator Gail Langellotto-Rhodaback is adding and revising on-line modules. These have to be publicized to Master Gardeners. Tom reported having technical problems with the modules, cause unclear. Action--Provide information on class schedules and modules in newsletters, etc. Report module problems to Jordis.

Plant sales: Washington County is adding vegetables to their sale inventory. They are interested in our experience planning the nursery orders and we (Rich and others of the IE team) plan to help them. In turn we can learn from their experience with tallying and holding methods. Action--Continue communication between the sales chairpersons.

Communications committee: David Owen said a general invitation was sent and this committee began to meet August 22. He continues to recruit additional members. There is another meeting next week. They plan to talk about how we communicate among ourselves and with the public; how we engage interns; how we organize and document information. A second focus of the committee will be our technological infrastructure. He said we might consider using "Google Suite," which should be free for us as a 501-c3 nonprofit. Action--Committee to continue updating Board on plans.

Communications-newsletter: Claudia said she is resigning from her position editing the e-newsletter. She outlined general expectations for this position: writing skill, attending some meetings, generally staying in touch with the Chapter, tracking down photos and captions. She estimates she has spent parts of ten days each month on this. David Owen will continue doing the layout. Action--Recruit some more.

Other: The chapter received a $325 Educator grant from the Extension Service. Corinne will announce this at the next meeting.

OMGA is scheduling their 2018 meetings. Do we want to host in March or November? Action--Ask Marcia to check these dates with the church.

Mention was made of Weston's idea of inviting Patrick Proden, the OSU Extension regional outreach and engagement coordinator for Washington and Multnomah Counties, to one of our meetings. Action--Remind Corinne of this plan and schedule him if the Board expresses interest.